Alrosa studying possibility of titanium extraction in diamond pipes
MOSCOW. May 27 (Interfax) - Specialists of Alrosa's Vilyui geological exploration expedition are conducting geological exploration work to extract titanium as an associated mineral from kimberlite ore of the Udachny and Zarnitsa pipes, the company said.
If economic feasibility is achieved in obtaining titanium concentrate, the diamond mining company will consider possibilities for organizing its supply to Russia's non-ferrous metallurgy.
According to Alrosa's geologists, the average titanium content in the kimberlite ore of the Udachny pipe is 0.8 kg per tonne of rock. The annual level of metal extraction in concentrate at the facilities of Alrosa's Udachny Mining and Processing Plant (MMP) no. 12 could therefore reach up to 6,000 tonnes, the company said.
"Today, specialists of the Vilyui geological exploration expedition are processing the obtained samples using gravitational, magnetic and electrostatic separation methods to obtain a concentrate with a content of more than 50%, necessary for industrial titanium smelting," the chief processor of the Vilyui expedition Sergei Bazrov was quoted as saying.
The presence of titanium in the kimberlite pipes of western Yakutia was discovered in the 1960s. The main titanium-containing mineral is picroilmenite. At that time, due to diamond mining was the primary task and an insufficient level of kimberlite ore processing technology, titanium extraction was not carried out. Today, rock accumulated over several decades of diamond mining, including titanium, is contained in the tailings storage facilities of Alrosa's Udachny MMP.
The Vilyui geological expedition prepared a project for geological exploration of associated valuable elements of the Udachny pipe and has received a positive conclusion from the expert review of Rosgeolekspertiza. Upon successful completion of the research, the kimberlite ore processing processes at plant no. 12 will be expanded with technological units for the associated extraction of titanium concentrate.
